Little gestures mean the world
by qsmadness007
Summary: The day after “A Spy in the house of love”, Ivy is unsure if she should come into work, but is glad she did when Topher brings her a present.


The shrilling of the alarm brought Ivy wide-awake; she was surprised she had even remembered to set it last night. She pulled herself up groggily from the space between her tub and her sink.

She had to stop these crying binges in the bathroom. It made it harder to move around easily in the mornings. There had been more than enough of these binges in the last few months.

Ivy stretched weakly as she got to a complete standing position. Usually the good thing when she had to cry like last night, she always woke up feeling refreshed that she had a new day for a fresh start.

Well, that is what usually happened, but not today. Today, a sense of doom hung over her. She was sure with how paranoid that Topher tended to be, that she would be on some kind of weird probation. She would probably be forced to do chores that were had even less responsibility that figuring out which kind of cookie he wanted today.

Ivy walked wearily to the kitchen, like a lost zombie. It wasn't her fault that Dominic had planted some file to make her look like a spy to cover his own indiscretions. She was not even sure what kind of weird information was in the file. It could really contain true information but put in away where it seems like she is shady.

She was about to push the button on the coffee pot, but realized she must have set the timer last night. She was glad a part of her brain had been thinking rationally last night, because she was a wreck when she came home last night.

Now, she had more to time to get ready quicker, and find her most professional outfit. She would make it appear that she was dedicated to the Dollhouse. She thought for a brief second, that maybe if that was the case she should have actually slept there, but she hated those little rooms, which to her always seemed nothing more than closets with mattress on the floor.

---

An hour later, she came into the office. She had made sure to have her hair done in a perfect updo. She was also wearing her cleanest lab coat, and most professional skirt and blouse. She had even decided to wear some cute black high heels that she usually didn't like to wear to work. (While she did wear heels sometimes, she tended to wear the ones she got that she wouldn't mind if something happened to, it was easier on days especially when she had to run around all over the place.)

Ivy had made sure to grab a large package of juice boxes, so that they would be there before Topher even asked about them today. She didn't want to start out this morning with him having any doubts about her loyalties.

She was surprised to see he wasn't there. Since Topher for some odd reason didn't mind sleeping in the little rooms behind the office, he was usually the first person in the room. He could usually be found double-checking the schedule of things that needed to be done that day, or doing something random like jumping on the trampoline.

He was probably off wandering somewhere. He had a tendency to delegate any task he found boring, just so he could have more time to play.

Ivy checked the schedule. There were no engagements until later in the afternoon, but there seemed to be a lot of paper work that needed to be done. Topher had probably gotten behind again.

She decided that she would catch up on all the filing that had yet to be done.

She looked up at the clock when she finished the filing, and realized an hour had gone by and no Topher. While he did wander around occasionally, he never stayed more than an hour away from the room. It was almost like his home in a way. (This was probably one of the main reasons that Ivy figured he didn't mind the little rooms. He was just using it to sleep; his living space was the office and the imprint room.)

Ivy decided it would be best not to worry right this moment; he might have actually ventured out. He did occasionally do that about once every six months or so.

Walking across the room, she sat down at one of the computers, and began to finish the paperwork that needed to be done. She was well in the middle of one of the reports when Topher came up the stairs and into the office.

He was grinning, and had a weird sort of smirk on his face as if he might just be about to crack a sexual joke. His hands were behind his back, and he seemed to be carrying something Ivy could not see. "G'morning."

"Good morning." She gave him a soft smile, trying not to appear worried. She wanted to ask him outright if she was on probation but decided against it. If she brought up yesterday, she might be in more trouble.

"Don't freak out about yesterday, I am not going to start monitoring your behavior anymore than I already was. I never thought you were the spy. You aren't smart enough for that." He said in his usual fast-paced tone. He gave her a grin, to know he was only teasing her about the last part.

She wonders if she should start a fight with him, or just nod. She never knew sometimes when they were arguing if it was just pretend, or he really meant the hurtful things, he directed towards her. "Okay," she just manages to say weakly.

Ivy was always fighting with herself over whether Topher was a good person or a bad person. The last few months the fights in her head had increased when she realized she had a crush on Topher.

"Okay, that is it? Where is your usual spunk?" He taunted.

"Wh-" She stopped herself and took a deep breath, regarding him

He grinned. "You still think I am testing you that you are on some kind of weird restrictive probation, don't you?" He walked farther into the room, closer to where she was seating. He chuckled softly. "I got you a present. You can keep it, destroy it, paint a picture over it, I don't care." He sat a manila envelope close to her on the desk.

Ivy tilted her head up at him confused. "What is it?" She took her hands off the keys, and turned the chair in his direction.

"If I tell you, it's not a surprise. You have to open it, silly." He sat down in one of the chairs, and began to spin in the chair aimlessly.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I am going to finish this report, before I open whatever bobby trap you set up for me." She turned the chair back.

He threw back his head, and laughed. "You do that then." He got up, and checked the schedule of things that needed to be done today. "Wow, you knocked out a lot of stuff this morning. Good, that means we will have more free time later. I am thinking we may have time to schedule a water balloon attack against Boyd before the days is out."

Ivy chuckled a little knowing that Boyd would probably not think that was a good way to celebrate his first day as head of security.

"Oh, tomorrow, you don't need to come in." He was at another computer, updating the schedule for the rest of the week.

She had a feeling he would say that, as she remembered what tomorrow was. He usually gave her the day off on his birthday because he did some "experiment" to check the actives to make sure they were working properly.

She really knew he programmed one of them to be a friend of his that he had lost touch with, so he can the things he wanted to celebrate his birthday without having to leave, or his friend cancel on him.(His friends life was as hectic as Topher's.) She never let on she knew, as she thought it was kind of endearing that he had to program someone to help celebrate his birthday. She knew he wasn't very big on birthdays. (He actually didn't want to guilt people into remembering it which he thought happened when people bring in cakes, then they feel bad if they forgot and didn't buy him anything or buy him a present.)

"Okay."

"Thanks for the books. I forgot to say so yesterday. It was somewhat hectic. You know how that goes. I think a lot of things got forgotten yesterday, like I am not really sure I had dinner." The last bit trailed off as he started to think about something.

"You're welcome." She had snuck them into his room yesterday morning before she started work.

They did not say anything for a few minutes, as both finished the tasks that they were working on.

Ivy found herself glancing at the envelope though as she typed. As she finished, she tried to pick it up without being caught, but she noticed that Topher was watching her out of the corner of his eyes.

He grinned at her playfully, which caused Ivy to send a fake glare in his direction.

She opened it up, and pulled out what looked like a plastic transparency. She picked it up, and examined it.

"The file mysteriously disappeared from NSA's control along with any copies! That is the last copy." He said excitedly as if not able to hide the secret anymore.

She jumped up, running across the room and hugged him tight, trapping one of his arms close to his body. "Thank you!"

"It wasn't just me, but you're welcome." He hugged her one handed.

She pulled herself away quickly, hearing someone walk up the stairs. She didn't want to get in trouble if it was Dewitt. "Thank you again." She said softly before heading back to do her work.


End file.
